A former State Department official resigned Wednesday over President Biden’s decision to provide lethal weapons to Israel as it wages war against Hamas terrorists.
Josh Paul, a senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, publicly announced his resignation in a letter posted on his LinkedIn page, arguing that supplying Israel with lethal weapons and ammunition is “impulsive” and “immensely disappointing.” ”.
“I made a promise to myself that I would stay as long as I felt that the harm I could cause could be outweighed by the good I could do,” Paul, who worked in the State Department division that oversaw arms sales, wrote in his brief. note. “In my 11 years I have made more moral commitments than I can remember, each one to a large degree, but each one with the promise I made to myself in mind and intact.”
“I am leaving today because I believe that on our current course with respect to the continued (indeed, expanded and accelerated) supply of lethal weapons to Israel, I have reached the end of that deal,” he wrote.
Biden, 80, has promised to “stand with Israel” and “make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond” following the barbaric October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on the Jewish state. which left more than a thousand dead.
Josh Paul, a senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, publicly announced his resignation in a letter posted to his LinkedIn page.Josh Paul/LinkedIn
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House last week that the United States “has increased munitions and interceptors to [Israel’s] “Iron Dome” under the direction of the president, and would soon provide the Israeli military with “additional capabilities.”
Paul’s resignation comes the same day that Biden, during a high-stakes visit to Israel, pledged to ask Congress later this week for “an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense.”
However, the president also announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territories during his trip, and has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to follow the “laws of war” as he prepares to send ground troops to Loop.
A Biden State Department official resigned after the president showed support for Israel following the Hamas terrorist attack on the country earlier this month.REUTERS In his resignation announcement, Paul argued that supplying Israel with weapons and ammunition fatalities was “impulsive” and “immensely disappointing.” ”AFP via Getty Images
Paul, who described the Hamas attack as “a monstrosity of monstrosities,” admits that he is “encouraged” by Biden’s efforts to moderate Israel’s response and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, but that in his previous role, “my responsibilities lie firmly in the arms transfer space.”
“I believe in the depths of my soul that the response that Israel is giving, and with it the American support for both that response and the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to greater and deeper suffering for both Israelis and the Israelis. Palestinian people, and it is not in the long-term American interest,” she argued.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets President Biden upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
“The response of this Administration – and also of much of Congress – is an impulsive reaction based on confirmation bias, political expediency, intellectual bankruptcy and bureaucratic inertia. I mean, it’s immensely disappointing and not at all surprising.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn